by Sue Margolis
Then she remembered her date with Ossie. As she explained, Frank couldn’t disguise his amusement. “So, what are you going to tell him?” She shrugged and asked Frank how offended he would be if he were a midget and she told him in the most sensitive way possible that she didn’t fancy exceedingly short men. “On a scale of one to ten?” he said. She nodded. “Ooh, about 197, I’d say. Clearly, your only option is to marry the man.”
“Gee, thanks. You’re a big help.”
Then he smiled and said he was just teasing. “If you do it tactfully, I think he might really appreciate your honesty.”
“That’s what I thought,” she said, “but it’s just not going to be easy.”
Frank wished her good luck with Ossie. She told him she was going to need it. Then she thanked him again for a fantastic evening. After giving him another quick kiss on the lips, she opened the car door.
She practically floated up the garden path to the house. The night air was bitter and her coat was only draped around her shoulders, but she didn’t feel a thing. She was falling in love. She hadn’t felt this happy in years.
She woke up on Sunday morning desperate to see Jake. There was no reason her mother needed to have him today. Perhaps she would take him to the natural history museum. “Actually, that suits me brilliantly,” Estelle had said. She explained that her deep freeze had just broken down, that the repairman had pronounced it a goner and that she and Harry needed to get to John Lewis to order a new one. “It’ll probably take all morning. Jake is going to be bored stiff if he comes.”
Stephanie offered to collect him, but Estelle said she and Harry would drop him off. “And maybe I can put a few bits in your freezer.” Stephanie said that was fine, since her freezer was practically empty.
Her parents arrived just after ten. Stephanie scooped Jake up into her arms and hugged him.
“Hi, poppet. How are you?”
“Better,” he said. Then he wriggled down and ran off to find his digger.
Her father, red faced and looking fit to burst, was speaking into his mobile in this strange strangulated tone. He dropped two M&S carrier bags full of frozen food by the fridge.
“No, don’t you dare put me on hold again. You will not put me on hold. I demand to speak to your supervisor.” He looked sharply at Estelle. “Can you believe it? They’ve put me on hold.”
“He’s on to the London Online call center in Rawalpindi,” Estelle explained. Apparently, not only hadn’t the junk e-mails stopped, but she and Harry were now getting them through the post. “That postman’s such a gossip,” she said, lowering her voice. “Now the entire neighborhood thinks my husband suffers from …” She mouthed the words erectile dysfunction. “I can’t look anybody in the face.”
Estelle opened Stephanie’s deep freeze and began filling it with food from the carrier bags.
Harry turned toward the two women and raised a hand in front of him to indicate somebody had come back on the line and they should be quiet. “Look,” he said, rubbing his forehead, “time and again, you’ve promised these e-mails would stop, but they’re just getting worse. On top of that, these companies are now sending me this obscene junk through my letter box … How have they gotten my address? … What’s my name? You have my name. I must have given it to you fifty times. What? … No? I am not Mr. P. Enis Extension. I am Harry Glassman. Oh, God, what’s the use?” He laid the phone down on the kitchen table and flopped onto a chair.
“Come on, Dad, calm down,” Stephanie soothed. “I’m sure this whole thing will get sorted out eventually. Look, why don’t I make us all a nice fry-up?” She told them that Cass and Lizzie weren’t coming because they’d gone shopping. She didn’t mention—because it would have been of no real interest to her parents—that this wasn’t any old shopping spree. It was the first stage in Lizzie’s grand makeover.
“Now you’re talking,” Harry said, cheering up.
“Come on, Harry, be sensible,” Estelle said, closing the freezer door and starting to fold the carrier bags. “You know all that cholesterol’s not healthy. You had your low-fat yogurt and muesli before we left.”
Harry turned to Stephanie. “Do you mind telling me what I have to live for? She wonders why I read Final Exit in bed at night.” Estelle finished smoothing out the carrier bags and told Stephanie to take no notice. Stephanie persuaded them to at least stay for coffee. While she put the kettle on, Harry went to check on Jake.
“Mum,” Stephanie said, swallowing hard, “I need to talk to you. You know this chap Grandma’s been seeing?”
“The tai chi teacher.”
Stephanie nodded. “His name’s Bernard. Does that mean anything to you?” Estelle thought for a minute. “Vaguely,” she said. “Yes. I’m pretty sure she went out with a chap called Bernard before she met my father. Her parents put a stop to it because he wasn’t Jewish.” She was silent for a moment. Then she started to frown. “Are you telling me that this is the same man?”
“Yes. And they appear to be head over heels in love.”
“You’re joking. I don’t believe it. Mum’s in love with him? With a man she knew nearly sixty years ago?”
“I’ve met him,” Stephanie said, “and he’s lovely, a real charmer—a bit like Albert. You’ll like him.” Estelle’s antennae were on full alert. She’d clearly picked up on Stephanie’s underlying anxiety. “OK, why am I suddenly getting a bad feeling about this? I mean, how come you’re telling me all this and not my mother? And how come you’ve met him and I haven’t? Something’s not right here. There’s a problem, isn’t there?”
“Mum, maybe you should sit down.”
“No, I’m fine. I don’t need to sit down. Just tell me.”
Stephanie let out a long breath. “OK, Bernard wants Gran to move to Florida with him. They’re going to live together and teach tai chi to the elderly.”
Estelle practically fell onto a kitchen chair. “Florida? He wants her to move to Florida?” By now her voice was trembling. “What are you saying? He wants her to live there permanently?” Stephanie said that was the plan. “But that’s outrageous. I’ve never heard anything so absurd. The woman’s almost eighty years old, for crying out loud. She’s got a heart condition. Who moves continents at eighty?” Estelle was back on her feet, pacing. “And why would he want to tear her away from her family? What does he want? Her money? I’ll give him bloody Florida when I get hold of him.”
Stephanie managed to convince her that Bernard wasn’t remotely interested in Lilly’s money. “From what I can tell, he’s a good, kind man, he’s pretty well off himself, and they’re really in love.” Estelle told her not to be so ridiculous.
“They’re eighty. People of eighty don’t fall in love. Stephanie, I can’t let my mother go to America with some man she hardly knows. It’s preposterous. I don’t care what you say, he could be a dangerous criminal, for all we know. And even if he’s not, what if she gets ill or has an accident? I can’t let her fend for herself at her age. I just can’t. I have to talk to her and make her see sense.”
“OK,” Stephanie said, “but when you do, just keep calm. There’s nothing to be gained by losing your temper.”
“I am calm!” Estelle shot back defensively. “I’m always calm. When am I ever not calm?”
When Stephanie suggested going to the natural history museum, Jake didn’t seem particularly excited. He was far more keen on the two of them sitting on the living room floor, doing puzzles and looking at books. After what must have been the ninth reading of Fatapillow, Stephanie suggested they make meringues. Jake adored using the electric whisk. It made him feel grown up. He also loved the noise and the magical way the egg whites expanded and changed into a thick glistening mass. She’d barely finished asking the question before he was tearing off into the kitchen to find the whisk. She rolled up his sleeves and tied a tea towel round his waist to serve as an apron. “Now remember, hold the whisk with two hands and keep the beaters low down in the mixture like this. If you don’t,
it’ll fly all over the place.”
He gave a solemn nod. She flicked the switch on the handle. The whisk buzzed and made delicious sloshing sounds in the egg white, which made him giggle. Stephanie stood watching him for a minute or so. Deciding he had the whisk reasonably under control, she went to find the sugar. Her back couldn’t have been turned for more than twenty seconds, but it was time enough for Jake to lose concentration and for substantial amounts of the thick egg white to end up on the counter and the wall tiles. Of course, he thought this was great fun, and the more the egg white splattered in his face and hair, the more he squealed with pleasure. Stephanie couldn’t get cross. She stood behind him, watching him having fun and realizing just how much she was going to miss him this week.
She made bacon and eggs for lunch. Afterward, Jake said he wanted to watch a video. She brought his duvet down from his bedroom and they spent an hour or so snuggled up under it, watching Aladdin and eating the meringues, which made a terrible mess on the sofa. About half past two she suggested they go for a walk. Jake was less than keen and would have been happy to sit watching videos all day, but she insisted they needed some fresh air. “Tell you what, you can take your tricycle. And afterward we’ll get crepes. How’s that?”
“Chocolate?” he asked, head on one side.
“Absolutely.”
Just then the phone rang. It was Lizzie, sounding as high as a kid on artificial food colorings, to say that she and Cass had had the most fantastic morning shopping, how she couldn’t believe Dom’s credit card hadn’t gone into meltdown, and could they pop in for a cup of tea to show off their purchases. Stephanie said she was just about to go out for a walk with Jake. “I promised him pancakes. Tell you what, why don’t you meet us at the crepes place in an hour or so?”
It was twenty minutes before they left the house. Stephanie couldn’t find her mobile phone. Like so many people, she felt naked going out without it. It should have been in the bag she’d used last night, but it wasn’t. After looking down the backs of chairs and sofas, under beds, in drawers and cupboards, she finally gave up. Jake swore he hadn’t touched it. Maybe her mother had picked it up by mistake.
It was one of those gloriously bright but arctic winter afternoons with a Pepsi-can-blue sky. Jake pedaled happily for a good half hour. Then he got tired and said his fingers and toes hurt. Stephanie brought his mittened hands to her mouth and breathed warm air onto them, but it didn’t do much good. In the end he announced that he wasn’t going to pedal anymore and demanded that she carry him. “Jake, I can carry the bike, but I can’t manage you as well.”
Jake had just started to whine when she heard a male voice behind her asking if she needed a hand. She turned round to see Frank. The collar of his suede jacket was up against the cold and he was wearing a thick black woolen hat pulled down to his eyes. He looked supremely sexy. She instantly became aware of her lack of makeup, the two fleeces she was wearing one on top of the other and her ancient, baggy joggers. But her discomfort was fleeting. There was something about the way he was looking at her that made her feel as if she were dressed up in her full Peggy Lee regalia.
“Couldn’t quite face making a start on this lot,” he said, nodding at the stack of Sunday papers under his arm, “so I thought I’d take a stroll through the woods.” Then he noticed Jake and bent down. “So, you must be Jake. Hi, I’m Frank. That’s a great bike. I bet it goes really fast.” The arrival of a stranger had made Jake cheer up. “A million fousand miles an hour,” he said, nodding and stretching his arms wide to emphasize the point. “You want a go?”
“I think I might be a bit too big,” Frank smiled, “but tell you what, why don’t you get back on and I’ll pull you along so’s you don’t have to pedal.” Jake looked up at Stephanie as if to ask whether that was OK. She nodded and he climbed on.
“How come he wouldn’t do that when I suggested it?” Stephanie said.
“Simple,” he said, “you’re his mother.” She told him they were heading for the crepes place and asked if he fancied joining them. “I’d like that,” he said. “Oh, by the way, I found your mobile in my car. It must have fallen out of your bag.”
“Oh, thank God.” She told him how she’d been turning the house upside down looking for it. They agreed she would pick it up later, after she’d dropped Jake back at her mum and dad’s.
La Crêperie was packed and they had to queue for a table. It wasn’t more than ten minutes or so, but long enough for Jake to get irritable. Stephanie picked him up and he began pinching her face and laughing. “Hey, Jake, stop that. It really hurts.”
“Jake,” Frank said, “do you like magic tricks?” Jake’s face immediately brightened and he began nodding. Frank reached behind Jake’s ear and produced a pound coin. “Wow, look what I found.” Wide-eyed, Jake burst into fits of giggles. “ ’gen. Do it a-gen.” Frank obliged. Then he made the coin disappear, which enthralled Jake even more.
“He’s a lovely kid,” Frank said, once they’d sat down.
“He likes you. He’s not usually so forthcoming with strangers.”
“You know,” he said slowly, stirring his cappuccino, “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“You didn’t?”
He shook his head. “I kept thinking about how much I’d enjoyed being with you.” He reached out and took her hand. It occurred to her he might be about to say he loved her.
“Me too,” she said.
“Hi, you lot.” Stephanie looked up to see Cass. Lizzie was standing next to her, unable to take her eyes off Frank. The two of them were loaded down with bags. “You won’t believe how much money we spent,” Cass went on, shoving bags under the table. “Dom is going to go absolutely ape when he finds out.”
“Frank, you remember Cass,” Stephanie said, her smile belying her desire to throttle her friends for barging in at that precise moment. “And this is Lizzie.” He reached over and shook Lizzie’s hand. She said how do you do, but she was blushing like a starstruck fourteen-year-old. Frank didn’t seem to notice, though. He stayed and chatted for twenty minutes or so, Lizzie gradually relaxing in his company. Then he said he had to get going because he had to finish reading a film script.
“The director wants to know by tomorrow if I’m interested in auditioning for a part and I’m barely halfway through.” He turned to Jake, did the pound coin trick again and said good-bye to Cass and Lizzie. Finally he bent down and kissed Stephanie on the cheek. “See you about eight. I should have finished the script by then. We’ll get a takeaway.” She nodded and said she’d be there.
“Cass told me you and Frank had dinner last night,” Lizzie said, a slightly pinched expression coming over her. Stephanie nodded. She was half expecting a lecture from Lizzie about persevering with Albert for Jake’s sake, but she knew lectures weren’t Lizzie’s style. “I just hope you know what you’re doing, that’s all.” She raised her eyebrows, making it clear that she was worried it was all going to end in tears and Jake would be the one to suffer.
Stephanie looked at Jake, who was busy stuffing handfuls of crepe into his mouth and at the same time smearing his face in chocolate sauce. She began wiping off the worst of the sticky mess with a napkin. Then she turned back to Lizzie. “You know I want the best for Jake, but I’m falling in love with Frank. I can’t just ignore that.” Lizzie gave an “If you say so” shrug, which Stephanie couldn’t help finding irritating. Later on, as she walked home, she considered her reaction to the shrug. Why had she let it get to her? Why had she felt so challenged? Of course, she knew the answer. Lizzie had sensed that deep down Stephanie wasn’t as convinced as she made out that choosing Frank over Albert would be best for Jake.
“God, that’s two of us in love,” Cass piped up excitedly. “Maybe we should think about a double wedding.” Stephanie made the point that Frank hadn’t even said he loved her yet and that Cass had only been seeing Alex for five minutes. “I know,” she said, a wistful look in her eyes, “but I’m certain Alex is as in lo
ve as I am. I can just feel it.”
Stephanie could see that Lizzie was becoming increasingly upset by all this talk of falling in love, so she decided to change the subject. “So, come on, what’s in the bags?” she said. “I’m dying to see.”
Her face brightening, Lizzie pulled out half a dozen tight-fitting tops, a couple of tailored jackets, hipster jeans, pointy suede boots and a fabulous cream coat. “Oh, and we also bought this dead-sexy silk dress for Dom’s do on Tuesday night, but it’s being shortened.”
“God,” Stephanie said, holding up a tan suede miniskirt. “If it’s anything like the rest of this stuff, Dom is going to be on his knees begging you to take him back.”
Frank answered the door wearing jeans and a white T-shirt. His feet were bare, which Stephanie found immensely sexy.
“Hi, you,” he said, pulling her to him and kissing her on the lips. His body felt deliciously warm, as if he’d just come out of the shower. He led her into the living room. This had been knocked through into the kitchen to make one large space. She took in the wooden floor, the white walls, the Conran sofas, the fire burning in the minimalist white fireplace, the perfect low lighting. Ella was singing softly in the background.
“So, how was the script?” she said.
“Excellent, but the part they had in mind required some muscle-bound hunk. Not quite me, really.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She smiled, running her hand over his chest. He kissed her again. “You know, this really is a lovely room,” she said. She decided it combined artistic flair and general tidiness with the perfect amount of bloke-ish mess. Although Stephanie had no time for men who lived like slobs (Albert veered perilously in this direction), she could never see herself hooking up with a man who ironed his briefs and filed his herb jars in alphabetical order. In Frank’s case the mess consisted mainly of books, CDs and the Sunday papers strewn about the place. The dining table was awash with bits of model airplane. Frank told her it was going to be a radio-controlled glider. “I’m making it with my nephew, the one whose father’s a Buddhist clown. Poor lad comes to stay when he gets sick of playing Zen glove puppets.” Stephanie laughed. She only stopped laughing when he wrapped her in his arms and told her he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this happy. “Whenever we’re together it just feels so natural and easy, so right.”